WASHINGTON — As August begins, it may seem that this summer has been on the cool side. Many question whether the Washington area should expect these mild temperatures to last.
While many homeowners enjoyed turning off the air conditioning a few times last month, ABC7 meteorologist Lauryn Ricketts says so far our summer temperatures are average.
She says she’s been hearing from listeners and viewers who think, understandably, that it’s been a cooler summer on the whole.
“It always is, ‘Oh it’s so cool now. It’s going to turn into a harsh winter.’ That doesn’t apply here,” Ricketts says.
In fact, she has looked at major snow events dating back to 1889, trying to find a hint in the summer that preceded them.
“We’ve been cooler; we’ve been warmer and right around normal. So there’s really no correlation,” she says.
Before the huge blizzards in December 2008 and February 2009, the measured temperature at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was -0.1 degree below the normal average for the summer.
The numbers so far this summer are as follows:
Washington Dulles International Airport measurements
June 2014 at Dulles:
- Average Historic Temp: 72.4
- Observed Temp at Dulles June 2014: 72.4
- Departure from normal: 0.0
July 2014 at Dulles:
- Average Historic Temp: 76.8
- Observed Temp at Dulles June 2014: 74.3
- Departure from normal: -2.5
Ricketts says that in July, Dulles had five days in the 70s and six days of overnight lows in the 50s.
Summer 2014 overall at Dulles:
- Average Historic Summer Temp to date as of July 30: 74.6
- Observed Temp at Dulles Summer 2014: 73.4
- Departure from normal: -1.2 (1.2 degrees cooler this summer so far)
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport measurements
June 2014 at DCA:
- Average Historic Temp: 75.2
- Observed Temp at DCA June 2014: 77.2
- Departure from normal: +2.0
July 2014 at DCA:
- Average Historic Temp: 79.8
- Observed Temp at DCA June 2014: 79.4
- Departure from normal: -0.4
Summer 2014 overall at DCA:
- Average Historic Summer Temp to date as of July 30: 77.5
- Observed Temp at DCA Summer 2014: 78.3
- Departure from normal: +0.8 (0.8 degrees warmer this summer so far)
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport:
June 2014 at BWI:
- Average Historic Temp: 74
- Observed Temp at BWI June 2014: 73.2
- Departure from normal: +0.8
July 2014 at BWI:
- Average Historic Temp: 76.9
- Observed Temp at BWI June 2014: 75.7
- Departure from normal: -1.2
Summer 2014 overall at BWI:
- Average Historic Summer Temp to date as of July 30: 75.5
- Observed Temp at DCA Summer 2014: 74.5
- Departure from normal: -1.0 (1.0 degrees cooler this summer so far)
And it’s worth noting that the summer is not over yet. But the overall data above refers to the data collected so far in the meteorological summer — June, July and August.
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